Today I’ve read a decent amount of coverage regarding the Wizards game against the Celtics from yesterday, almost every headline boils down to: “Paul Pierce has great game as injured Celtics win.” That’s all true, no part of that is incorrect. There is however a substantial piece of the story that is not mentioned at all, which is that the Wizards looked like the far-better team most of the game. As much as the Ravens and 49ers did the same day, Washington lost themselves this game.

Off-ball fouls, lackadaisical defense following any poor offensive series, and a derailing technical all in the fourth quarter cost the Wizards from coming away with their second win in three games. The young kids from DC showed that winning is a concept elusive to them even when they play well. The clearest indicator was on a breakaway play facilitated by Andre Blatche. The Wizards were down by 1 and Blatche snagged a rebound; Blatche spied a streaking Nick Young and threw a perfect down-court pass. Young then dunked on a hapless Pietrus and drew the foul. Washington would be up by 1 with Young shooting a free throw, and then? A taunting foul.

Being down 1 and responding with a good defensive rebound, good assist to a dunk leading to an and-one play is an impressive momentum shift with 6 minutes left. The game was at home, the mostly-silent crowd started to edge towards loud and that knuckle-headed play took everyone out of it completely. The Wizards still were up, but it felt like doom was still lurking. The next couple series included an offensive board leading to a putback for the Celtics, a steal coming off a bad decision, and suddenly the Celtics are up 4 and the inevitable Washington loss took shape.

With John Wall picking up his play lately and the athletic front court, the Wizards have the basketball talent to win far more games than the sub-13% mark they’re at currently. They just need to stop stopping themselves and letting over-the-hill players like Pierce flop their way to victory.